Precious planet: promises to be a very interesting and thought-provoking session, which will consist of a range of interactive talks focused on the major challenges that our planet faces. In particular they will cover climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste pollution and renewable energy and transport systems that will power the smart cities of the future.

This will be a week long exhibition with posters about European Scientists where visitors can relax and have tea, coffee and refreshments at 11:00 am each day. Enjoy a cup of tea surrounded by the greatest scientists in Europe. Learn about their lives and there discoveries and how they influenced the world. In a separate section we’re going to work on Eponymous units from Ångström to Watt. The task will require moving pictures to populate formulae.

From the earliest of times humankind has looked up at the sky in wonder. Original concepts of wanderers and celestial spheres have been replaced with a deeper understanding. Today’s space missions explore the depths of space and time and ground missions like Ireland’s own I-LOFAR are delving into the unexplored universe broadening the horizon of knowledge and offering us new insights. At Eureka 2018 we will for the first time bring you exquisite presentations and interactive events by leading astrophysicists from Ireland. A moment with us will expand your horizons forever.

There are a wide variety of new electric motor designs being developed for use in battery electric vehicles (BEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). In this seminar we will investigate the electric traction motor designs that are used in various commercial BEV and HEV such as the Nissan LEAF, Tesla Model S, Toyota Prius, BPM i3, Honda Accord, etc. We will demonstrate how we can use CAE software to predict the motors electromagnetic and thermal performance, calculating efficiency & loss maps and calculating, peak & continuous torque/speed envelopes and drive cycle analysis with predictions of motor temperature vs time.

Simply put, a structure should resist loads without failing. For structures that contain humans, i.e. houses, cars, aeroplanes etc., they do not stretch (or deform) a great deal (thankfully!) and those that are required to move around should be lightweight to keep fuel costs down e.g. aeroplanes and super-lightweight to overcome gravity (e.g. rockets, spacecraft). This lecture explores the possibility of using unusual properties of materials with some additional nonlinear geometric behaviour to either reduce mass or to achieve a significant shape change (morphing) of a structure. Examples are drawn from bicycles, aeroplanes, helicopters, rockets, wind turbine blades, my Ferrari (I wish!) and Nature.

A selection of puzzles and riddles to ‘strain the brain’ will be positioned at various locations around the Institute of Technology Carlow. These conundrums aim to bewilder and to challenge your reason. Can you draw on your powers of logic and on your fountains of creativity and imagination to conquer the challenges? Those of you who are inspired to meet the challenge with ingenuity and skill will be rewarded!

This is a hands on set of demonstrations relating to Light and Sound that help explain how we see and how we hear the world around us. After looking at these demonstrations you should have a good understanding of key concepts such as: Frequency; Resonance; Refraction and Polarisation. You will get to see how you can make plastic disappear and how to make a star trek like cloaking device. You will see a rainbow without the rain and invisible light.

The debating competition aims to highlight the importance of the built environment in a modern society through the medium of debate. 24 secondary school teams battle it out for the title of champion by successfully arguing for or against a range of STEM topics which have been preselected.

Sláinte Science: the Science and applications of Brewing & Distilling. In a relaxed setting, renowned Guinness Brewmaster Steve Gilsenan – who you may recognize from the Smithwicks adverts on TV – will give a short interactive talk on the art and Science of brewing

The challenge is to create a cake representing any aspect of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). You can start from scratch by baking and decorating your own cake or by buying a cake and decorating it to represent the theme.

Our Mad Professor show will delight your 7 to 70 year old children with great fun science for kids. Watch your children learn about air and sound, visual puzzles, density and oil and water, along with the amazing manufacture and release of various gasses (mostly pleasant)!

Please share the information to spread the word with colleagues, family and friends.

Last year, we found that ‘word of mouth’ was how we reached the majority of our audiences.

So for instance if you spot an event or talk that might interest someone, you know, please send them on the Eventbrite link for booking tickets.

NB: all of the events are free entry but pre-booking is required as spaces are limited.